Legion: JP Mascaro rolls over Presidential Caterers

The Greater Norristown American Legion powerhouse steamrolled their way through a 15-3 season (good enough for first place in the league) and earned themselves a bye in the first round of the double-elimination playoff tournament.

On a hot and muggy Saturday afternoon, they faced Presidential Caterers, who earned the right to play JPM with a 1-0 win over Lafayette Auto earlier in the afternoon, and the result wasn’t too different than what Mascaro has been doing to teams all year.

Thanks to a strong offensive showing, J.P. Mascaro rolled past Presidential Caterers, 10-4, advancing to the next round of the winner’s bracket in the GNALBL playoffs.

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JPM didn’t waste any time slapping runs on the board.

After starter Rick Hostrander gave up a run on Conard Tomlinson’s RBI single in the first, Mascaro came right back with a five-spot in the home half of the inning on RBI’s by Dan Damato, Kyle Feaster, and Reed Hostrander.

“That’s the plan every day, to come out and get on top,” JPM manager Butch Denczi said after the game. “They scored that run, and we came back and put five up. That let them know that we were here to play.”

Mascaro tacked on another two in the second on an RBI single by Lucas Denczi and an RBI fielder’s choice by Kyle Lowery, ending PC starter Evan Grimes’ day on the mound.

Hostrander retired the next nine batters prior to giving up a leadoff double to David Randolph in the fifth. Matt Guyger drove Randolph in with a single to put the second Presidential run on the board.

PC was able to chase Hostrander in the next inning, after they put two runs on the board with a single, triple, and double by Grimes, Pat Campion and Ian McCabe, respectively. Zach Harmon relieved Hostrander and stranded the two baserunners he inherited.

With the lead at a much more uncomfortable 7-4 for JPM, the Mascaro bats came up big in the sixth.

Campion walked Tom DeLucia to lead off the frame, and was bunted over to second by Denczi. Harmon was hit in the next at-bat, followed by a Trip Hagner walk, and Mascaro found themselves with full basepaths.

Thanks to an RBI walk, an error, and Feaster’s second RBI single of the day, JPM scored three more runs, bringing the score to how it would end after Harmon retired PC 1-2-3 in the seventh, 10-4.

“(Campion) shut us down when he came in (in the third). That was big — it gave us a little breathing room,” the elder Denczi said of Mascaro’s sixth inning. “It gave us a couple more runs, so we could send (Harmon) back out there to finish up.”

“We needed to counter (PC’s 2-run sixth). If we didn’t put any runs on the board, they would have had a little more confidence, and who knows what would have happened,” Denczi continued.

“It looked rough in the beginning,” PC coach Dave Vernacchio said. “But we came back and showed some fight.”

“It seemed like when we would hit, it would go right to somebody, and they were finding gaps,” Vernacchio continued. “We had some great hits, though. Campion had a monster hit, and Tomlinson had a pretty good hit.”

“We’ve just got to keep swinging the bat,” Vernacchio continued.

Tomlinson went 2-3 and drove in two. Campion went 1-3 with an RBI and pitched three scoreless innings of relief before tiring in the sixth.

For JPM, Feaster went 2-3 with two driven in. Lowery managed to drive in two despite an 0-3 day, notching RBI’s on a fielder’s choice and a walk. Hostrander pitched five and a third, giving up four runs and striking out three.

“We’ll come back tomorrow to get another win,” Vernacchio said. “It’s still wide open. We’ll come back and keep fighting.”

“I can’t give away my secrets,” Butch Denczi said wryly about how he plans on keeping his team on top of their game moving forward, “but we’ll figure something out.”